Frequency modulator



April 12, 1960 s. s. SPIEGEL ETAL 2,932,803

FREQUENCY MODULATOR Filed Oct. 18, 1957 PFZ Paw-,v0.4.4 @WPW swan/va (FM) (Manz/M7701) 7ky 4 f @4 INVENToRs STANLEY SSPIEGEL .9+ Y $1; ELAND E'. T nMP'ann JT wir I. Il?? y 4% United States '2,932,803 Patented Apr, 12, 19,60

2,932,803 FREQUENCY MODULATOR Application ctoher18, 1957, Serial No; 690,996

2 Claims. (Cl. 352-44) This invention relates to a frequency modulator useful in a microwave relaying system utilizing frequency modulation for the transmission of intelligence.

A11 object of this invention is to provide an improved frequency modulator which gives a much larger frequency deviation than conventional modulators.

Another object is to provide a novel frequency modulator which has a highly linear response over a very wide frequency band, sufficiently wide to enable transmissionof a color television signal or 600fmultiplexed telephone channels, and` which eliminates the need for automatic frequencycontrol or limiter circuitry, thus rendering the arrangement extremely economical in design.

The objects of this invention are accomplished, briefly, in the followingmanner: An electron discharge device is connected to operate as a` phase shift oscillator by means of a phaseshift network connected betweenY its output and input electrodes, the oscillatory frequency being that for which the network provides a phaseshift of 180. A pair of electron discharge devices are connected to inject currents into the respectiveI opposite ends of saidvnetwork, thev signal excitation for theser devices being obtained by connecting the input electrodes of both devices in parallel to the midpoint of the network. By supplying push-pull baseband or modulating signals to this last-mentioned pair of devices, the relative amplitudes of current injected by such devices are caused tovary, thereby varying the phase angle of the resultant or total current in the phase shift network'and producing frequency modulation of the oscillator. The frequency modulated output may be taken from the midpoint of the phase shift network. Advantageously, two high transconductance', low capacitance triodes connected in parallel` may be employed for the oscillator.

Referring now to Fig. l, two high transconductance (gm), low-interelectrode-capacitance electron discharge devices 1 and 2 have their electrodes connected in parallel and together are connected to function as a so-called phase shift oscillator which operates, for example, at a rest or undeviated frequency of 70mc. The devices 1 and 2 are preferably high frequency triode vacuum tubes, and may each be a type 6AN4` tube, or they may be type 6AF4A tubes. In the phase shift oscillator of Fig. 1, the input ,and outputof an amplifier are connected together by a feedback network which introduces 180 phase shift at the rester undeviated frequency of the amplifier then functioning as'an oscillator, therev beingzatotalV loop phase shift of 3609' (as necessary for` oscillation) because of the 180 phase shift through the oscillator tube. Specifically, the. phase; shift network (which may be thought of as the oscillator tank circuit), is a two-section constant- K low pass filter in which a 90 phase shift is obtained across each section of the filter,4 and comprises two seriesconnected inductances` 3 and 4, onefor each filter section, the capacitances of the filter or phase' shift network` being constituted by the stray capacitances of the circuit, as Well as by a small (on the order of Inmfd.) capacitor 5 connected from the junction point A of inductances 3 and 4 to ground. The end of inductance 3 (point B) remote lfrom point A is connected directly to the anodes of tubes l and 2, while the corresponding end of inductance l (point C) is coupled by way ofra capacitor 6 to the grids of these same two triodes. rfhus, the two portions of the phase shift network provide a 180 phase shift in the oscillator anode-to-grid feedback path. In order to provide anode potential to the triodes 1 and 2, a resistor 7 isv connected from the lower end of inductance 4to the positive terminal B+ of a suitable source of unidirectional potential, the negative terminal of this source being grounded, like the cathodes of tubes 1 and 2.

With the connections described, and with the requisite gain in the oscillator tubes 1 and 2, the circuit oscillates at the frequency for which the phase shift in the network 3, 4, etc. is 180, this being the rest or center frequency of the oscillator.

The use of two high-transconductance, low-internalcapacitance tubes connected in parallel as disclosed at 1 and 2 enables the gain times bandwidth constant to be increased. This is because, for two tubes in parallel the gm is doubled, yet at the same time the capacitance is not increased by the same ratio. Thus, thisgreater gm makes it possible to reduce the value of resistor 7 to -less than 100 ohms, for example, and still maintain .a strong oscil lation; this reduction is desirable as it increases the band# width of the oscillator.

In order to modulate the frequency of the oscillator described, two pentode vacuum tubes 8 and 9 are utilized. These tubes may be of the 6AH6 type, for example. The control grids of these tubes are both coupled to the midpoint A of the phase shift network, grid lil of tube 8 being coupled to this point through capacitor ll and grid .-12 of tube 9 being coupled to this point through capacitor 13. The anode 14 of tube 3 is connected directly to point B, and the anode 15 of tube 9 is connected directlI to point C. Anode potential is thus applied to tubes 8 and 9 through resistor 7. The cathode 16 of tube 8 is connected to ground through a resistance-capacitance network 17 including an adjustable resistor 18, while the cathode i9 of tube 9 is connected to ground through a resistance-capacitance network 20 including an adjustableresistor 2.1.5 Push-pull modulation frequency signals, commonly termed baseband signals by workers familiar with the relaying art, are supplied through respective radio frequency chokes RFC and RFC to the control grids l0` and 12. That is, the modulation input to the two grids 10 and l2 is antiphasal or in push-pull. If modu-` lation frequency signals in the video range, up to about 8 mc. for example, are utilized, the chokes RFC and RFC. are designed to have a highimpedance at the oscillator frequency of 70 mc., but a low impedance at 8 mc. Thus, the 70-mc. signal is effectively kept out of the modulation signal source, but the 8-mc. signals reach grids 10 and 12.

Frequency modulated output is taken off from the midpoint A of the phase shift network through a coupling capacitor 22, the output being taken against ground, as indicated in Fig. 1.

The gridsof the two modulator tubes 8` and 9 are, fed in, parallel from the midpointA ofthe phase shift network, In explaining the operation of the circuit of the invention, the vector diagrams will be with reference to point A, the output point of the circuit, and it will be assumed that im, the plate current of the oscillator tubes 1 and", 2, has a phase of- 0" aty point B. In going from point B to point Aflos is shifted inV phase by the action of the phase` shift network, so. in4 accordance with conventional vector notatiomfbsc has: a-.90 phasein-Fig. 2r. Thevoltage at the midpoint, A, is applied to the two modulator tube grids, this voltage being in phase with lose in Fig. 2. The modulator tube plate currents resulting from the application' of this voltage are also in phase with losa. Let us call these plate currents I8 for tube 8 and I9 for tube 9.

IB is injected into the oscillator phase shift network at point B and suffers a 90 phase shift in passing from point B to point A, giving a current represented by I3 in Fig..2, It can be stated that, since I3 leads 15c by 90, it has the same effect as a capacitive reactance. Another waybf stating this is that I8 has a 90 phase at point B while IOsc has a phase of (assumed) at this same point, so that the vcurrent injected by tube 8 leads by 90 and has the same effect as a capacitive reactance.

I9 is injected into the oscillator phase shift network at point C and suiers a 90 phase shift in passing from point C to point A, giving a current represented Vby I4 in Fig. 2. It can be stated that, since I4 lags IOsc by90, it has the sameeffect as an inductive reactance., Another way of stating this is that I9 has a 90 phaseat point C while Im,G has 1a phase of 180 at this same point, due to the action of the phase shifting network 3, 4, etc.; thus, the current injected by tube 9 lags by 90 andhas the same effect as an inductive reactance.

The total (output) current at point A is the vectorial summation of the various currents 13,14 and lose. The reactive currents I3 and I4 are porportional to the transconductance gms of the modulator tubes. With no modulating (baseband) signal applied to grids and 12, Ythe gms of tubes 8 and 9 are equal, giving equal and opposite reactive currents I3 and I4, so that the total current'ltms is in phase With lose, yas represented by Fig. 2.

If the gms of the modulator tubes 8 and 9 are varied by a baseband signal applied in push-pull to the modulator grids 10 and 12, the amount of reactive current injected will vary at the baseband frequency rate, resulting in frequency modulation. This will now be explained in connection with Figs. 3 and 4.

Fig. 3 represents the conditions obtaining at the peak of one half cycle of the baseband (modulating) signal. When a modulating signal is applied in push-pull to grids 10 and 12, during one half cycle of such signal I4 will increase due to increased gm of tube 9 and I3 will decrease due to decreased gm of tube 8. Then, the total (vectorial) current Im will shift in phase from the undev-iated or rest phase through an angle 91. The phase shift network 3, 4, etc. can be considered to be a low pass filter operating beyond cut-off, whereby the phase angle at any particular point therealong (such as the midpoint A) varies with frequency. If the phase angle at point A changes an amount 61, this corresponds to a change in the output frequency. In other words, the oscillator will oscillate at a new frequency corresponding to this phase shift 01 lAnother way of considering the operation of the invention is as follows. If tube 8 injects in effect a capacitive current and tube 9 injects in effect an inductive current, these may be considered `as capacitive and inductive reactances, respectively, connected with the oscillator phase shift network. If the `capacitive reactance is decreased and the inductive reactance is increased, the total reactance of the phase shift network is varied, thus changing the amount of phase shift afforded by the network; This will cause the oscillator to operateat a different frequency, since it always oscillates only at a frequency at which the phase of the voltage at the oscillator grid is 180 out of phase with the voltage at the oscillator anode.

Fig. 4 represents the conditions obtaining at the peak of the second or otherhalf cycle of the baseband (modulating) signal. On this second half cycle, I4 will decrease due to decreased gm of tube 9 and I3 will increase due to increased gm of tube 8. The total (vectorial) current IM will shift in phase from' the undeviated or rest phase through an angle 02. The oscillator will now oscillate at a different frequency corresponding to this phase shift.

The oscillator frequency thus deviates back and forth at a rate corresponding to the baseband frequency, and with a peak deviation proportional to the amplitude of the baseband signal. Frequency modulated output is taken off from point A and fed to an external circuit.

The adjustable resistors 18 and 21 are provided so that the characteristics of the modulator ltubes 8 and 9 can be matched exactly. The simultaneous adjustment of 18 and 21 will bring third order distortion to a minimum, while second order distortion can be controlled by adjusting the relative amounts of baseband voltage fed togthe modulator grids 10 and 12.

No automatic frequency control or limiter circuitry is required. Any supply voltage changes will be eective in like senses on tubes 8 and 9, thus producing simultaneous changes'in like senses of the inductance and capacitance and. preventing any frequency changes of the oscillator from taking place due to this cause.

By employing two modulator tubes, over double the deviation of conventional circuits is obtained, with the same signal level. Corresponding improvements in linearity, frequency stability, incidental amplitude modulation, and group delay, are obtained. l In a modulator built according to this invention and successfully tested, the following are some of the results obtained. Center frequency, 70 me; peak-to-peak deviation, 8 rnc; second order distortion, 55 db; third order distortion, -54 db; center frequency shift, less than kc. without AFC; incidental amplitude modulation, less than 2% without limiting; group delay at peak deviation, less than :t3 vmillimicroseconds (which means a very wide bandwidth); sensitivity, :L7 mc. per R.M.S. volt of signal.

What lis claimed is:

1. An oscillator c-ircuit comprising an electron control devicev having input and output electrodes, first and second inductances, means connecting one end of said first inductance directly to one end of said second inductance, means coupling the other end of said first inductanceto said output electrode, means coupling the other end of said second inductance to said input Velectrode,.whereby said inductances forma phase shift network effective to produce a phase shift of in a wave of predetermined frequency passing therethrough, second and third electron control devices each having inputand output electrodes, means coupling the output electrode of said second device to said other end of said first inductance, means coupling thev output electrode of said third device to said other end of said second inductance, means coupling the input electrodes of said second and third devicesY to the junction of said first and second inductances, means to couple said other end of said second inductance to a source of positive unidirectional potential, means for applying push-pull modulating voltages to the vinput electrodes of said second and third devices, and means to derive an output signal from said junction.

2. An oscillator circuit as claimed in claim 1 and wherein said first device includes a further electrode connected to `a point of reference potential, said second and third devices each including a further electrode connected to said point of reference potential through a separate resistance-capacitance network, and a capacitor connected between said junction and said point of reference potential.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,629,685 Direham May 24, 1927 2,278,063 De Lange Mar. 31, 1942 2,342,708

Usselman Feb. 29, 1944 

